Blinken heads to key mediator Qatar after Hamas seeks tweaks to truce deal
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was heading on Wednesday to talks in key mediator Qatar after Hamas gave a...Geostrategy
Blinken returns to Mideast in push for truce
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was heading back to the Middle East on Monday to push a ceasefire plan,...Geostrategy
Saudi Arabia pledges more than $1 billion in ‘green era’ initiatives
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman announced two initiatives to fund the "circular carbon economy" and provide "clean fuel" to help...The "circular carbon economy", a concept promoted by the Saudis, aims to remove and store carbon for reuse in other products.
Saudi Arabia has said it would join a global effort to cut emissions of planet-warming methane gas by 30 percent by 2030.
Greenhouse gas levels reach new record high: UN
The UN's blunt report comes as British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the COP26 host, said he was "very worried" that...The World Meteorological Organization said that continued rising greenhouse gas emissions would result in more extreme weather.
Concentrations of all three major greenhouses gases --CO2, methane and nitrous oxide--have risen alarmingly.
Ministry of Economy and LinkedIn sign MoU to promote UAE as talent destination
The UAE's Ministry of Economy has signed an agreement with LinkedIn for developing a framework for skills-based talent besides identifying,...The agreement is geared towards achieving UAE Strategy for Talent Attraction and Retention.
LinkedIn will collaborate with the ministry’s team to make joint action plans supporting the ministry’s national strategies.
Erdogan steps back from threat to expel Western envoys
The reversal came after the United States and several of the other concerned countries issued identical statements saying they respected...The new Western statement "shows they have taken a step back from the slander against our country", Erdogan said.
Erdogan had threatened the ambassadors on Thursday and then pronounced them "persona non grata" in televised comments on Saturday.
UAE, Israel to recognize each other’s vaccine certificates
The competent authorities in the two countries will be able to develop specific procedures ensuring the unrestricted movement of vaccinated...The UAE and Israel have signed an MoU to recognize each other’s vaccination certificates
The MoU is said to be part of the efforts of the two nations to emerge stronger from the Covid-19 pandemic
Khamenei urges reversal of Arab-Israeli normalization
The United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco all agreed to normalize ties with Israel in 2020, as Washington under...Ali Khamenei said Arab nations have "sinned" in normalizing (their relations) with the "usurping and oppressive Zionist regime".
Egypt and Jordan were until last year the only two Arab countries to normalize relations with Israel.
Saudi minister: More investment in science and technology way to net-zero goal
Saudi Arabia's Minister of Communications and Information Technology Abdullah bin Amer Al-Swaha has said that the best way to achieve...Al-Swaha says pursuing current policies and technologies will lead to a gap of 30-40 percent in the zero-emission goal.
Saudi Arabia is taking the lead in building a center for climate technologies in the MENA region, he said.
Gaza fishermen struggle for a catch under Israel’s blockade
Crashing through the Mediterranean waves at sunset, Palestinian fisherman Mohammed al-Nahal leads a convoy of rickety boats out for another...High prices of fuel in the enclave means that fishing operating costs are crippling, making them stay closer inshore
Israel's navy fully controls the waters off Gaza's 40-kilometre (25-mile) long coastline, and regularly restricts or expands the size of the fishing zone
Pope urges intervention on Libyan migrant crisis
Governments must stop returning migrants to "non-secure countries" like Libya, the 84-year-old pontiff said, while prioritizing saving lives in the...Italy continues to be confronted by waves of migrants crossing the Mediterranean from Libya, with hundreds of people arriving nearly daily on the country's shores.
A two-day summit of EU leaders that ended Friday revealed continued rifts between countries on the migrant issue.
Turkey orders expulsion of 10 ambassadors as Erdogan fumes
Several European countries said late on Saturday they had received no official notification from Turkey, while the US said it...Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has ordered the expulsion of the ambassadors of 10 countries, including Germany and the US
These ambassadors had appealed for the release of jailed civil society leader Parisian-born philanthropist and activist Osman Kavala
